For Black Friday, Apple has cut the cost of its iPad 2 to $458 from $499, and its iPod Touch to $178 from $199. The Cupertino, Calif.- based company also is offering its iPod Nano for $118, as opposed to its traditional list price of $129.

Discounts of $101 are also being offered on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, according to the Apple Web site, while the iMac's list price has been cut to $1,098 from $1,199.

The sale mirrors Apple's usual Black Friday discounts.

Last year, among a slew of offers, Apple cut the cost of its 8-Gigabyte iPod Touch to $208 from $229. The tech giant also offered the 16-Gigabyte Wi-Fi version of the iPad for $458, compared to its usual price of $499. The tech giant also offered $101 discounts on its MacBook Pros and the MacBook Air.

"The company generally does not offer price discounts outside of this once a year tradition," explained Brian White, an analyst at Ticonderoga Securities, in a note released on Friday. "Apple does not need to cut prices to generate demand, however, this promotion generally drives incremental purchases and consumers will truly appreciate this year as the global economy is clearly showing signs of decelerating."

Apple set new all-time quarterly records for iPad and Mac sales during its recent fiscal third quarter. The company shipped a massive 11.1 million iPads, thanks largely to the iPad 2, up from just 4.2 million iPads in the prior year's quarter.

Apple expects revenue of roughly $37 billion during its December quarter.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

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